Where The Newspaper Stands

One thing the Peninsula economy has going for it is diversity. The Peninsula is less dependent than South Hampton Roads on defense spending.

That translates into another Peninsula advantage: stability. The Peninsula sustained less damage from defense cutbacks than its neighbors to the south, says a study released last month by the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission. In all, post-Cold War defense cutbacks cost the region about 95,000 jobs.

What it doesn't have going for it -- and neither does the regional economy of which it is a part -- is enough of certain kinds of jobs. High-paying managerial and professional jobs are too scarce, and so the region is suffering a brain drain, the loss of those well-educated, ambitious, something-on-the-ball young people who breathe life into an area's economy, housing market and cultural life.

What it does have is plenty of low-end jobs, and more to come in the localities that are loading their economic eggs into the restaurant, hotel and retail baskets, or courting more distribution or telemarketing centers. They have a necessary place in the mix, of course, bringing in tax revenue and providing jobs for large segments of the population. But they must be balanced with jobs that attract and sustain other segments.

By sheer job count, Hampton Roads has made up for the loss of many defense jobs, but it has replaced too many of those jobs, which generally paid pretty well, with jobs that pay below-average wages. That's why average income in the region trails the nation. And that's a dismal telltale to those trying to discern the future of the region's schools, housing mix, local budgets and appeal.

Attracting more high-end jobs will require expert and well-coordinated economic development groups. It will depend on the right mix of publicly financed incentives, from infrastructure to tax breaks (and an understanding among residents that you have to play that game -- offering incentives -- to win the game). It will require business-friendly tax policies. It will take incubator programs and venture capital. It will depend on a road system that moves people and goods efficiently, and the right mix of recreational and quality-of-life amenities. It will require schools that choosy, educated parents find attractive. It will take universities and two-year colleges that can provide training and research support. It will necessitate smart strategies to go after the segments of the economy that are poised to grow. And it will require a two-pronged approach, helping existing businesses expand as well as drawing in new blood.

It's one of those movements that can be hard to launch but that, once under way, helps feed itself. Once you get in place a critical mass of the right mix of folks and employers, and the resources they demand and bring, they help draw others like them.

Some of the pieces are ready, including the college system, recreational amenities, promising incubator programs, a fortuitous location and the framework of a good multi-modal transportation system (though its capacity is overburdened in places). The planning district says the region can offer workers with abundant technical skills, a necessity for luring technology-intensive employers.

But when it comes to other essentials, like a coherent approach to marketing the region, there's a way to go. Localities vary in how savvy they are with incentives. And some keep selling the area's low wages as a draw -- but that only draws more businesses that want to pay low wages.

There is room for optimism: a glimmer of recovery in defense jobs, and a healthy growth rate for the region's economy. But optimism must be married with smart, well-funded, regionally coordinated economic development efforts. *

Water ways

Rainy days or dry, we need to conserve

Parked outside the Newport News Lowe's recently, well positioned to snare folks out to buy plants, were representatives from Newport News Waterworks. Their message: conserve.

That's a message that may have more muscle come August when the plants the eager shoppers were hauling out are panting for water. It will be harder for gardeners to heed that message if they put in too many plants that need lots of water, like all the ones with tags that say "Keep moist; do not allow soil to dry out."

Because we don't even need another drought; with just a run of dry days, soil will dry out. If the plants in that soil aren't hardy enough to withstand a parched period, folks will be running those hoses and sprinklers. And we could end up back in the situation we were in during the summer of 2002, with constant pleas to cut back, even limits in some localities on who can use water and when.

It's hard to think of it now, with April's showers still fresh, but inevitably dry times lie ahead. We can do a lot to make sure we, collectively, can withstand a dry spell without painful measures -- rationing and fines are the extreme.